Movers Reveal: 5 of the Dumbest Mistakes They’ve Seen People Make

We all do seriously inane things when we’re moving. The first time I moved into an apartment alone, I decided I could save 400 bucks by doing it all myself. And I would have, too, if I hadn’t dropped a desk on my bare toe right at the start (that’s right, folks—I was also moving in flip-flops). In the end, not only did I not save that cash, but the whole thing cost me about $600 in medical bills.

Maybe you’ll have better luck (or common sense). But here’s the thing: When you’re moving, it’s surprisingly easy to make dumb and costly mistakes. Just ask these moving companies, who’ve seen the good, the bad, and the stupid.

1. Forgetting to pack

“Clients aren’t always prepared. It literally happens daily. You would be surprised if you knew how many clients we have found still asleep when we rang the doorbell. Recently, we received a call from a potential client on a Friday afternoon for the following Monday. They said they’d have everything packed and ready to go. We knew better, but we booked the move and showed up Monday. And yes, not one single box was packed.”—Derek Mills, co-founder of Square Cow Movers in central Texas

If you leave anything until the last minute, you’re setting yourself up for disaster.

“It adds exponentially to the stress level for the client and movers,” Mills says. And when you’re under stress, something is bound to go wrong. Save yourself the headache, and be totally prepared the night before.

2. Packing in the least efficient way possible

“One customer of ours attempted to save money by packing all of their belongings in plastic bags. Think about an entire kitchen’s worth of dishes and stemware in Hefty bags. Not good! Another customer loaded their dresser drawers and armoire with books, photos and other assorted sundries.”—Aaron Steed, CEO and founder of Meathead Movers in California

The smarter way: If you properly wrap your belongings, you’ll not only keep them from breaking, but you’ll keep your sanity intact as well.

“Take note: Boxes and protective material like bubble wrap and newsprint are the most effective means of carrying, transporting, and protecting one’s personal items,” Steed says. But don’t attempt to use furniture to store heavy items: The furniture can break under the stress. Empty those drawers, and pack the contents in boxes.

3. Bringing the drama

“About two years ago, one of our movers showed up to load a truck for a woman who had booked a move well in advance. The day of the move, we show up to load her truck, and it wasn’t there. No one was there to answer the door and no one returned our phone calls.

“After we wait for 20 minutes, hoping for a callback, she opens the front door and she’s heavily intoxicated. She then asked us to drive her to a truck rental agency, which we did. After we secured her truck and finished loading all her items, her husband comes home and begins physically and verbally panicking because he claimed the things we loaded were all his! This resulted in a lengthy yelling match, with one telling us to load certain items and the other telling us to unload the same items—simultaneously. Nothing got moved that day.”—Mike Glanz, CEO of HireAHelper

The smarter way: If the movers have to hang around while you sort things out, you’ll likely be charged. Instead, get the personal stuff out of the way long before they show up … and we don’t just mean personal belongings.

4. Shipping a fully packed car

“A mistake customers routinely make [when transporting their car in an interstate move] is packing their vehicles with personal items. People sometimes get the idea they can use their car as a giant suitcase, and this will not work. Auto transporters are only licensed to carry automobiles, not freight. Also, these carriers have to go through weight stations going across the country. If they are overweight, they will get fined and can pass that fine down to the customer with the packed car.”—Brett Deinum, manager at AAcrossUSA Auto Transport

The smarter way: You can’t use your car as a way to transport your boxes, but that doesn’t mean you have to clean it out entirely, either.

“We have found that most carriers will let the customer get away with around 50 pounds of personal items secured in the vehicle,” Deinum says.

5. Not taping both ends of your boxes

“One situation that comes to mind happens quite often, but I remember this one move in particular because of the scale. The client we were moving went to great lengths to excessively tape the tops of their hundreds of boxes … but completely forgot to tape the bottoms. Of course, as soon as the first boxes were picked up, the bottoms opened up, and all the contents unloaded onto the floor. The associate moving the boxes simply turned them over and put the contents back in, hundreds of times. And we all know, time is money!”—Ashley Thibodeaux Herbert, COO of Bart’s Office Moving, Inc. in New Orleans, LA

The smarter way: Movers will be happy to fix your boxes for you, but it’ll cost you. Save yourself money, and test-lift a few boxes before the movers get there. And for goodness sake, tape up all of the sides!

Source: Realtor.com, Angela Colley
http://www.realtor.com/advice/move/dumbest-mistakes-movers-see/?iid=rdc_news_hp_carousel_theLatest

7 Reasons to Work With a REALTOR®

7 Reasons to Work With a REALTOR®

REALTORS® aren’t just agents. They’re professional members of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribe to its strict code of ethics. This is the REALTOR® difference for home buyers:

1. Ethical treatment. Every REALTOR® must adhere to a strict code of ethics, which is based on professionalism and protection of the public. As a REALTOR®’s client, you can expect honest and ethical treatment in all transaction-related matters. The first obligation is to you, the client.

2. An expert guide. Buying a home usually requires dozens of forms, reports, disclosures, and other technical documents. A knowledgeable expert will help you prepare the best deal, and avoid delays or costly mistakes. Also, there’s a lot of jargon involved, so you want to work with a professional who can speak the language.

3. Objective information and opinions. REALTORS® can provide local information on utilities, zoning, schools, and more. They also have objective information about each property. REALTORs® can use that data to help you determine if the property has what you need. By understanding both your needs and search area, they can also point out neighborhoods you don’t know much about but that might suit your needs better than you’d thought.

4. Expanded search power. Sometimes properties are available but not actively advertised. A REALTOR® can help you find opportunities not listed on home search sites and can help you avoid out-of-date listings that might be showing up as available online but are no longer on the market.

5. Negotiation knowledge. There are many factors up for discussion in a deal. A REALTOR® will look at every angle from your perspective, including crafting a purchase agreement that allows enough time for you to complete inspections and investigations of the property before you are bound to complete the purchase.

6. Up-to-date experience. Most people buy only a few homes in their lifetime, usually with quite a few years in between each purchase. Even if you’ve done it before, laws and regulations change. REALTORS® handle hundreds of transactions over the course of their career.

7. Your rock during emotional moments. A home is so much more than four walls and a roof. And for most people, property represents the biggest purchase they’ll ever make. Having a concerned, but objective, third party helps you stay focused on the issues most important to you.

Souce: RealtorMag
http://realtormag.realtor.org/sales-and-marketing/handouts-for-customers/for-buyers/7-reasons-work-realtor

Preparing Your Home for Sale

When you’ve decided to sell your home, the last thing you want to do is spend money to spruce the place up. After all, whoever buys it is going to replace those outdated kitchen cabinets and grungy bathroom tiles anyway, right?

“We’re often asked why any money should be spent freshening,” said Mickey Conlon, an associate broker with Douglas Elliman Real Estate. “The answer has to do with the psychological effect of assessing a renovation on a prospective purchase. Buyers assign dollar values to repairs that typically exceed the actual cost of remediation.”

To get the best return on your investment — and avoid turning off potential buyers — you need to ensure your home looks its best when it hits the market. At the same time, you don’t want to waste effort or money on improvements that won’t pay off.

To find out what you absolutely must do before putting your home on the market, I reached out to several real estate professionals for their essential presale fix-ups. Here are their top suggestions for making sure your house or apartment is market-ready.

1. PAINT THE WALLS A fresh coat of paint is a cost-effective way to make a place feel new again. But stick with neutral tones like grays and whites, which let the best features of your home stand out, rather than going with bold colors that might not suit everyone’s taste. You can find painters starting at $60 an hour on a site like Handy, which offers on-demand handyman and cleaning services in New York and other major cities. “As an added bonus,” said Mr. Conlon of Douglas Elliman, “the faint whiff of paint can be as alluring to home buyers as new-car smell is to auto shoppers.”

2. SHINE THE FLOORS “Unless your floors are severely damaged, it doesn’t make sense to have them refinished,” said Pat Christodoulou, who stages homes for sale in Connecticut and New York. Instead, she hires a handyman with a floor buffer, paying anywhere from $300 to wax and polish the floor of a small living room to $1,500 for a Classic Six. “Many good buildings have a buffing machine,” she said, adding that if yours doesn’t, you could try asking for a handyman at another building down the block.

3. CLEAN UP THE BATHROOM Replacing missing tiles and re-caulking moldy areas are must-dos. Small upgrades, like swapping out an old faucet, can brighten up the space. If your tub is looking dingy, a professional refinisher can repair dents, rub out rust spots and recoat it with a new finish in a day or so, for about $500 for a standard-size bathtub, according to Homeadvisor.com, a home-improvement website. This technique, called reglazing, can be applied to those dated pink wall tiles as well, so long as they are in good shape. And if your bathroom is already in decent condition, a new bath mat, shower curtain and fresh towels may be all the sprucing up you need.

4. UPGRADE THE KITCHEN While remodeling an old kitchen is a sure way to help your home sell faster and at a higher price, it is possible to transform a dated space without a complete overhaul. A fresh coat of paint and new hardware will help refresh old cabinets. Peel-and-stick wall tiles, which can be found at home improvement stores for as little as $8 a square foot, make adding a backsplash easy on the budget.

And if you’re feeling a little more ambitious, an epoxy coating, sold at most home improvement stores for about $20, can give laminate countertops a new look and feel. Louise M. Devlin, an agent with Brown Harris Stevens who does a fair amount of business in 1960s co-ops, swears by this trick. “It’s a fantastic affordable option,” said Ms. Devlin, who hires a handyman to do the work, which involves sanding the countertop and mixing and applying several coatings of epoxy. The end result, which can be finished in a weekend, she said, “looks like a granite industrial finish.”

But what about those old appliances? While real estate professionals agree that replacing them can add value, it may not be worth the time involved or the cost of new high-end appliances. If your budget allows, consider buying steeply discounted appliances at stores that sell used kitchens, like BIG Reuse in Gowanus, Brooklyn, and Astoria, Queens, or Green Demolitions in Fairfield, N.J.

5. CLEAR THE CLUTTER “Sellers don’t realize how much stuff they have and how it deters most buyers,” said Kathleen Perkins, an associate broker at Douglas Elliman. “A good rule of thumb is to get rid of 50 percent of your stuff.” This includes books, furniture and the clothes hanging in your closets, and it has the added effect of making small spaces seem bigger. Coffee tables, kitchen counters, windowsills and other surfaces should be cleared of family photos, plants and tchotchkes. Also, be sure to put away any personal effects — razors, hair dryers, shampoo bottles, toothbrushes — before showings.

6. DO A DEEP CLEANING Wash the windows inside and out and vacuum all the dust that’s accumulated in those exhaust fans, said Heather McMaster, an associate broker at the Corcoran Group: “Deep cleaning is so important, because while an apartment can show very neatly, it’s the details that people pick up on.” According to Handy, the handyman and cleaning service, it usually takes about four or five hours to thoroughly scrub down a two-bedroom two-bath apartment — including inside the cabinets, oven and refrigerator — and costs $100 to $135.

7. LIGHT IT UP “Every room should have at least three points of light,” said Alison Draper, an agent with Halstead Property who writes for a company blog about design and staging. That means a table lamp, a floor lamp and a task light, for example, or an overhead fixture and a couple of table lamps. Her go-to resource for inexpensive lighting is Ikea.

Source: The New York Times, Michelle Higgins
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/realestate/preparing-your-home-for-sale.html?_r=1

Even the CEO of Zillow thinks you should ask a real-estate agent what your home is worth

A decade ago, when the real-estate bubble was reaching its peak and homeowners were giddy about the rise in home values, plugging in addresses at the new website Zillow became a national pastime.

“People ‘Zillowed’ their Christmas list. They would go and look up the home value of their boss and ex-girlfriend and ex-wife and their neighbors,” said Spencer Rascoff, Zillow’s CEO. The site was originally built around these automated valuations (or “Zestimates”)—in 2006, not a single for-sale listing was posted on the site. It now has millions of listings and agent reviews, among other features.

Knowing the estimated value of a home was power—or at the very least, juicy gossip. That’s why it was so surprising that Rascoff sold a Seattle investment property earlier this year for $1.1 million—far less than its Zestimate of $1.7 million. This particular house, he said, was located on a major arterial street, a fact that wasn’t baked into the Zestimate. The company has worked that data into its algorithm since then, he said.

According to the Real Deal, a Los Angeles real-estate news website, he also recently paid more than the Zestimate for a Los Angeles mansion. But Rascoff said it doesn’t really matter.

“It wasn’t top of mind. When we were trying to figure out the price for the house that we bought, we relied on the expertise of the real-estate agent to help us decide what to pay. The Zestimate, at that point, was less important,” he said.

The founders of the site always viewed the Zestimate as a starting point, a figure that would give a general sense of a home’s worth, Rascoff said. Zillow Z, -0.53%  was never meant to replace real-estate agents (as travel sites such as Hotwire, which he co-founded, essentially did for travel agents), but to give consumers access to home-value information that real-estate agents were once gatekeepers of, he added. It’s also worth noting that real-estate agents now pay for advertising on the site, so the professionals have become an integral part of Zillow’s business model.

“We call it a Zestimate and not a zeppraisal and not a zeprice. It’s meant to be a starting point,” Rascoff said. “To determine a more accurate opinion of a home’s value you should hire a real-estate agent, or more to the point, you should sell the house and then you will know how much it’s worth.”

After the bubble burst and home prices plummeted, Zillowing all the homes on your Christmas list, let alone your own home, likely was a depressing exercise. Those who got carried away counting the Monopoly money building up in their home suddenly realized that values didn’t always go up. And perhaps people realized the importance of a real-estate professional when the market wasn’t on an upward trajectory. In today’s seller’s market, agents also are relevant, Rascoff said. In fact, his best piece of real-estate advice is to find a good agent, he said.

“Whether it is finding off-market inventory or helping figure out the home’s value and what bidding strategy to take, real-estate agents play a really important role,” he said. “There are 5% fewer homes available for sale today than there were a year ago, and we’re supply constrained and there’s plenty of demand because of low mortgage rates, and therefore home values are rising.” Over recent months, there has been somewhat of a softening in the housing market because builders have been building more homes, he said. Still, many markets are low on for-sale inventory, making it important for buyers and sellers to have a helping hand, he said.

Another misstep people make: not spending enough time mortgage shopping, he said. A recent Zillow survey found people typically spend more time shopping for a car than a mortgage, and that’s a mistake, Rascoff said. The mortgage rate you are able to snag will have a great influence on monthly payments.

He also cautions people not to think of homes in black-and-white terms, that they’re either for sale or not. “Increasingly, homeowners view their home in a more fluid state,” he said. For instance, the home he recently sold in Seattle used to be a rental he lived in; he approached his landlord about buying it. After buying it, he ended up renting the home out before recently selling.

Even off-market properties might be available—at the right price, he said. And he encourages people to knock on doors and write letters to the owners of homes in which they’re interested.

After all, while you can likely thank sites like Zillow for real-estate voyeurism as we know it, the sites have also contributed to more people paying regular attention to their home’s value. An estimated two-thirds of people using Zillow are actively interested in buying or selling, while one-third of people are using the site to keep track of the market and their home’s value, Rascoff said.

“More people are more attuned to real estate than they used to be, whether they are in the market or not in the market,” said Rascoff. “Nowadays, the internet and the smartphone have blurred the lines.”

Source: Market Watch, Amy Hoak
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/even-the-ceo-of-zillow-thinks-you-should-ask-a-real-estate-agent-what-your-home-is-worth-2016-09-15

INFO GRAPHIC: Time To Sell?

Where Properties Sell the Fastest, Slowest

Nearly 50 percent of properties nationwide were on the market for less than a month before selling, according to the June 2016 REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey Report.

Only 11 percent of properties were on the market for six months or longer. Homes are tending to sell the fastest in the Midwest and Western regions of the U.S.

In June, properties typically were on the market for 34 days. Short sales were on the market the longest time at 156 days. On the other hand, foreclosed properties tended to stay on the market for about 49 days. Non-distressed properties had the shortest time on the market, averaging 30 days.

View the chart below to see the averages for your state.


Source: “In What States Did Properties Sell Quickly in April-June 2016?” National Association of REALTORS® Economists’ Outlook blog (Aug. 11, 2016)

3 Weird Things You Can Ignore When Home Shopping

In 15 years of real estate, I can honestly say that I’ve seen it all. Toilet seats up in listing photos, shag carpet covered with dog hair, bedrooms doubling as marijuana growing centers, and avocado green appliances from the ’70s.

Sellers aren’t required to get their homes in their best condition before showing them — let alone cleaning their home before listing. But one seller’s laziness can spell a giant upside for the right buyer.

Here are three sights that may be off-putting when you’re shopping for a home, but shouldn’t stop you from considering making an offer — particularly if you love the home, layout or location.

Odd wallpaper and dirty carpet
Today’s buyers generally prefer a home that’s turn-key or move-in ready. They’re too busy with their day-to-day lives to take on a renovation — and this is especially true for the continuously connected, mobile-ready millennial home buyer.

But painting walls and replacing carpets isn’t always time-consuming or expensive, and you can do these projects before moving in.

If a seller won’t replace their shag carpet or paint the interior a neutral color, they’re shooting themselves in the foot.

A fresh coat of paint and finished floors or new carpet won’t break the bank or take more than a week, and the end product will be a like-new home for you to move into.

Rooms being strangely used
It’s not uncommon to see a home’s dining room transformed into a full-fledged office. Some homeowners even have a bedroom doubling as a walk-in closet. I once saw a first-floor bedroom turned into a wine-tasting room.

Just because the homeowner uses these spaces in a way that suits them, doesn’t mean you have to. These rooms might stand out as odd to you, but try to forget that the seller lives there.

Once they’ve moved out, the dining room will be a space that just needs a great light fixture and table. The walk-in closet can be turned back into a bedroom in less than a day.

A too-strong seller presence
It’s difficult for a buyer to imagine themselves in a home if it’s full of the seller’s photos, diplomas and other personal belongings. The best homes for buyers are those that are neutral and lacking any items specific to the owner.

What’s worse is when the seller is present at a showing. It makes everyone uncomfortable. The buyers feel like they need to be on their best behavior and can’t explore the house, dig deep into closets or cabinets, or feel free to talk out loud about what they see.

A home that is too personalized or where the seller is always present can sit on the market and get a bad reputation over time. A smart buyer will use that to their advantage and snag it below the asking price.

Sellers who sabotage their home sale — whether intentionally or not — leave money on the table for the buyer. But typical consumers today have a hard time seeing through a seller’s mess, personalized design style or custom changes.

If you see a home online that’s in a great location with a floor plan that’s ideal, go see it. Ignore the things you can change, and think about whether you can make the home your own.

Source: Zillow Porchlight Blog, Brendon DeSimone
http://www.zillow.com/blog/weird-things-home-shopping-200991/

Lagging Demand for Luxury Homes May Mean Deals for Buyers

A surplus of high-end homes for sale is giving more bargaining power to buyers.

In the U.S., the inventory of homes priced from $500,000 to $750,000 rose 15.9% in March compared with the same period last year, according to the National Association of Realtors. The inventory of homes over $1 million rose 12.6% year over year. Inventories dropped in April, likely due to the seasonal pattern of spring sales and perhaps some buyers taking advantage of deals, but real-estate agents say they are still seeing more expensive homes sit longer than midrange and lower priced homes.

Behind slowing sales at the upper level: Stock-market volatility has made wealthy buyers more cautious, and there are fewer foreign buyers than last year due to the dollar strengthening and other economic issues overseas, says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

“The stock market has come back up, but we don’t know yet if that means the upper-end home buying market will begin to return,” Mr. Yun says.



What also could be happening is simply a “normalizing” of the home market, says Brad Blackwell, executive vice president and portfolio business manager for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. That’s good for jumbo borrowers, who now have a wider choice of homes and won’t have to bend to sellers’ demands that waive financing and inspection contingencies to compete with cash buyers.

However, the thresholds for looser inventory differ widely by location as different market forces come into play. In suburban Hartford, Conn., homes priced between $300,000 and $450,000 are selling briskly, but listings of $600,000 to $800,000 often stall depending on location and whether they are priced reasonably, says Jessica Starr, agent/owner of Simsbury, Conn.-based Starr Realty, a team affiliated with Keller-Williams Realty. “A lot of people bought at the peak of the market [prerecession] and are taking a loss,” she adds.

Hartford is a good example of how local conditions impact the upper end of home sales. A number of big companies, including General Electric, are moving their headquarters from the area. That may create a glut in inventory, but other affluent, less geographically driven buyers, such as doctors, may swoop in for bargains in family friendly neighborhoods, Ms. Starr says.

In Portland, Ore., homes priced from $300,000 to $600,000 sell in five days with 10 to 20 offers, but listings start to sit on the market at $750,000 and get really challenged above $1 million, says Shannon Baird, a broker with Portland-based Living Room Realty. For example, a grand 1920s Tudor-style home with five fireplaces and a marble-floored ballroom was first listed at $1.6 million, but sat for five months and is finally set to close in June for $1.425 million, she says.

One of the biggest hurdles is changing the mind-set of homeowners attuned to quick sales and bidding wars, Ms. Baird says. One recent $840,000 listing had four counteroffers starting at $770,000 before buyer and seller agreed on $815,000. These days, Ms. Baird advises sellers to review their asking price and consider lower offers after 14 to 21 days.

In San Francisco, Maggie Visser, an agent with the San Francisco-based Paragon Real Estate, says stock-market gyrations have definitely slowed sales to tech-industry employees, many of whom cash out stock options to buy. Also slackening in the Bay Area is the market for newly constructed condo units, where sales had been driven by Chinese buyers, Ms. Visser says.

Here are a few things to consider when financing a more expensive home:

• Low interest rates. A bigger mortgage costs less now than it may in the future. Jumbo mortgage average interest rates are still near record lows—3.72% for the 30-year fixed rate and 2.87% for a five-year, adjustable-rate mortgage on the week ending June 10.

• More cash on hand. Lenders require higher down payments and more cash reserves as borrowers reach higher loan amounts, or “tiers.” For example, Wells Fargo will lend up to 89.9% on amounts up to $1 million, 80% on amounts between $1 million to $2 million, 75% on loans between $2 million and 2.5 million, and so on.

• Budget for all costs. Home buyers who are trading up should make sure they can also afford higher property taxes, homeowners’ insurance, and maintenance, Mr. Blackwell says. “It’s also always important for buyers of luxury houses to factor in the increased cost of furnishing that home,” he adds.

Source: Realtor.com, Anya Martin
http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/lagging-demand-for-luxury-homes-may-mean-deals-for-buyers/?iid=rdc_news_hp_carousel_theLatest

5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy A For Sale by Owner (FSBO) Home

Realtors and agents across the country dread the FSBO (For Sale By Owner), and it’s not just because these sellers are playing dress-up and pretending to be real estate agents. There are all sorts of headaches and hiccups that can happen when not working with a professional, and here are the top five:

1. Trust
A FSBO is the owner of the home they want to sell, and they are not a licensed real estate agent. They aren’t bound by the Code of Ethics that Realtors are, and may do and say whatever they want to get their home sold. This is like buying sand from a guy on the beach, or taking nutrition advice from Little Debbie.

2. Documentation
It is required by law for disclosures to be made about the condition of the home, and if any repairs were made. A real estate agent will have access to the database of paperwork and have it properly documented, and know how to pull records to verify there aren’t outstanding liens, assessments, or back taxes owed. A FSBO may not even know this documentation is required, and possibly may try to cover things up.

3. Negotiation
Throughout a real estate transaction, there are so many back and forth negotiations going on you’d think it was a tennis match. This is because real estate agents are hired to best represent their clients, and there are so many complexities involved, including: the offer, closing date, financing terms, comps, appraisal report, inspection report, daily occupancy rate, and more—so it’s best to let the professionals handle it all. FSBOs, on the other hand, are representing themselves and don’t care what you need or want.

4. Finances
It’s easy to assume that a FSBO is broke; otherwise they would’ve hired a professional real estate agent. If the seller is broke, then what happens if the home doesn’t appraise? Or if the inspection report reveals the furnace and roof are on their last leg and need replacing? It’s also easy to assume that a FBSO is just cheap; otherwise they would’ve hired a professional. This may be worse, actually. Do you really want to buy a house from someone who might have also cut corners on their home instead of paying a professional to fix the plumbing, electrical, roof, etc.?

5. Sense of urgency
Anyone who wants to sell their home, and wants it to sell it quick, will hire a real estate agent to get the job done. Maybe the sellers are relocating, or need a larger home and want to move over the summer before the kids go back to school. Or, maybe they’re just really smart and trust a professional to do the job right! You won’t find as much urgency with a FSBO, because most times they have no clue where they’re moving or when. And according to a recent news report, you could even run into problems getting them to vacate after closing!

In summary, why do some people think they are qualified real estate agents and list their homes FSBO? Statistics show that an overwhelming 85% of them do list with a real estate agent eventually, so that speaks volumes. As for the 15% that don’t? Well, most will probably die trying… in the same house that’ll be eventually sold by a real estate agent.

The Bottom Line
There are some wonderful homes on the market that are listed by owner. It’s not that you should necessarily turn a blind eye to them; rather, don’t go into the situation alone. If you don’t have an agent, hire one to represent your best interests. And if you already have one, now is NOT the time to go rogue. Oftentimes the only thing that’s able to salvage a FSBO deal is the help of an experienced agent.

Source: The Lighter Side of Real Estate, Sarah D'Hondt 
http://lightersideofrealestate.com/real-estate-life/5-reasons-shouldnt-buy-sale-owner-fsbo-home

Buyers Beware: You May Be Under Surveillance

Surprise, home buyers: You might be on hidden camera.

You may believe you’re having private discussions about the merits of a homeowner’s wallpaper, the ugly, orange tiles in the bathrooms, or the to-die-for bay windows as you tour a residence. But what people often don’t realize is that those surveillance cameras in the hallways may be turned on, according to Bankrate.com. And that smiling teddy bear in the corner? He may be taping everything you say.

Even the not-so-neurotic sellers often want to know exactly who wants to buy their homes, what they don’t like about them, and just how far they’ve fallen in love with the residences (useful information when it comes to negotiations), say real estate agents. And what better way to find out than to play Big Brother?

“It’s not unusual to see a camera at the edge of a playroom,” says Atlanta real estate agent Jen Engel. “But people don’t realize they’re on.”

Engel once represented a seller who used a “nanny cam” to record everything potential buyers said about the seller’s home. Engel learned of it after the property sold.

“They want to know what people don’t like,” says Engel. “They want to know if there’s an issue they’re not being told about.”

The cameras are most likely legal, although the laws can vary by state, says Indiana University law professor Fred Cate.

“It’s against the law to record someone on audio or video if they’re in a situation in which they have a reasonable expectation of privacy, [such as in] a changing room or a locker room or a bathroom,” says Cate, author of “Privacy in the Information Age.” “But when you’re in somebody else’s house with a real estate agent, it’s a little harder to argue you really have an expectation of privacy.”

For sellers, getting that honest (if ethically murky) feedback can inspire them to make changes—such as replacing that ’70s kitchen flooring or putting in new carpeting.

It can also be valuable during negotiations to know just how much buyers want the home—and how much they said they’d be willing to pay for those properties when they thought no one else was listening.

That’s why Houston Realtor® Greg Nino cautions his Re/Max Compass clients to play their hands close their vests and not say anything that could potentially be used against them—from commenting on the family pictures on the wall to gushing about how they finally found their dream home.

“I’ve had sellers actually go and spy on buyers to see if they are the kind of people they want living in their house,” Janine Acquafredda, a Brooklyn, NY–based associate broker at House-N-Key Realty, told Bankrate.com.

But Boston real estate broker Douglas Bray of Century 21 Cityside doubts that’s common.

“What’s important is if someone is financially qualified and capable of purchasing the home,” he says.

Of course, sellers may simply feel nervous about having strangers in their home, amid their possessions, and want some measure of security.

“If the home has precious works of art [or other valuables], then by all means, I think cameras are an important part of the home-selling process,” Bray told realtor.com®. “But it’s important that people be told there are cameras present. That’s just useful in making everyone feel comfortable.”

Source: Realtor.com, Clare Trapasso
http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/buyers-under-surveillance/?iid=rdc_news_hp_carousel_theLatest

6 Reasons Real Estate Agents Aren’t Extinct

It’s 2016, and it seems our need for real live people is ever-diminishing. There’s self-checkout instead of cashiers, selfie sticks instead of photographers, self-driving cars, self-watering plants, self-administered colonoscopies … well, you get the idea. Given that technology has become so important to buying and selling homes, you’d also think real estate agents would be a dying breed—yet they aren’t showing any signs of slowing down, with approximately 2 million active real estate agents throughout the country.

So why did real estate agents make the technology transition fully intact as opposed to, say, travel agents? We asked some experts to weigh in.

Reason No. 1: Selling is complicated

For many people, “a real estate transaction is financially momentous and complex—the most complex transaction people do in their life,” explains David Reiss, a law professor and academic program director for the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship at Brooklyn Law School.

Comparatively, personal travel agents—the kind where you’d walk in their office and have them book you a hotel and a flight—have gone the way of the dodo, because now that’s all simple DIY stuff (to be fair, not all travel agents are out of a job—there’s still a healthy travel agency sector that thrives on corporate and luxury bookings).

“People like having an expert when dealing with large, complicated transactions,” says Jeff Tomasul, founder of Vespula Capital LLC, an investment management company based in Greenwich, CT. “Why do people still have financial advisers? They want someone who does it full-time to make sure they are not doing anything wrong.” Same with real estate agents.

And real estate transactions are often anything but straightforward. Some deals, like short sales, can be “much more intricate than a regular transaction,” Reiss says, with lenders who have requirements that “a regular person would have no idea about.”

Reason No. 2: Buying ain’t easy, either

Buying a home, even if you come in with all cash, is not a cookie-cutter task, and you can find yourself drowning in paperwork and stressed out juggling things like meeting buyers, and dealing with the seller’s agent, lender, and title companies. Agents ease the whole transaction, and it’s something that has kept their profession alive.

“They can hold your hand through the process,” Reiss explains. “They might say, ‘This lender takes a long time, so put in your contract immediately and sign this and that paper and get all this stuff ready before you’re walking over hot coals with the lender for money.”

Reason No. 3: It’s their top priority

Your own interests and priorities will very likely always be split—because of those pesky little things like, say, job and family—but a Realtor® can be laser-focused on getting the deal done. “A Realtor has a singular aim: to sell houses,” Reiss says.

Simply put, having a real estate agent can make your life easier. Tomasul found himself in a frustrating position when he tried to sell his apartment in Manhattan without an agent. “Showing it was so tough with my schedule, and it was hard having a full-time job and keeping up in a timely matter with potential buyers,” he recalls.

That means the less you make time for buyers, the longer your place will stay on the market—and that’s not good for your bottom line.

Reason No. 4: They know the market, and the players, better than you

“The agent knows the market intimately, even more than a pretty informed resident,” Reiss says. And all that knowledge saves time. “Tracking sales, knowing listings, spending a lot of shoe leather on houses already for sale—right off the bat, they know more than the ordinary Joe and Jane. They understand condo boards and title companies. As a player in the game, they know what the other players are looking for and how to deliver.”

Reason No. 5: They’re objective

Without an agent showing your house for you, you have no shield from criticisms that can—and will—be made about your house from prospective buyers. Your favorite room in the home might be described as “tacky,” “needing a renovation,” or much worse. Sometimes such comments are negotiating tactics. Sometimes they are heartfelt, off-the-cuff opinions. But either way, they can lead to problems.

“It impacts objectivity for a seller to hear negative things about their own place,” Reiss explains. “Realtors aren’t emotionally invested. They don’t take comments personally. It’s not ‘Oh, you don’t like my chandelier? Then get out of my house.’”

Reason No. 6: The cost is worth it

We’re not saying a 6% commission is chump change. It can be a good amount of money when you’re selling your house. But using an agent saves a ton of time. Even with a 6% commission, time is money—for many people, time saved negates the cost. Plus, given that home buying and selling is a negotiation where you can save big if you bargain right, skilled real estate agents can step in to fight on your behalf, saving you major money. In other words, typically the money you pay an agent will come right backatcha.

Feeling a bit more confident than ever that you should have a real estate agent watching your back? Then Find a Realtor now and get moving.

Source: Realtor.com, Craig Donofrio
http://www.realtor.com/advice/buy/why-realtors-are-here-to-stay/?iid=rdc_news_hp_carousel_theLatest

Not Sure How to Price Your Home? Expert Strategies Help You Hit the Spot

You don’t need to be Bob Barker to know when the price just isn’t right. Just ask Candace Talmadge. She originally listed her Lancaster, Texas, home for $129,000, but “eventually had to accept the market reality” and chop $4,000 off the price.

The home’s location proved challenging: Buyers were either turned off by the area — a lower-income neighborhood south of Dallas — or unable to afford the home.

“Sellers have to keep in mind the location,” says Talmadge. “Who are going to be the likely buyers?”

Home pricing is more of a science than an art, but many homeowners price with their heartstrings instead of cold, hard data. Here’s why crunching the numbers is always the better route to an accurate home price — as well as what can happen when home sellers overlook those all important data points.

Related: 5 Things You Need to Ask Yourself Before Turning Down a Low-Ball Offer

The Pitfalls of Overpricing

Homeowners often think that it’s OK to overprice at first, because — who knows? — maybe you’ll just get what you’re asking for. Although you can certainly lower an inflated price later, you’ll sacrifice a lot in the process. The most obvious damage: A house that remains on the market for months can prevent you from moving into your dream home. Already purchased that next home? You might saddle yourself with two mortgages.

“You lose a lot of time and money if you don’t price it right,” says Norma Newgent, an agent with Area Pro Realty in Tampa, Fla.

And worse: Continually lowering the price could turn off potential buyers who might start wondering just what is wrong with your home.

“Buyers are smart and educated,” says Lisa Hjorten of Marketplace Sotheby’s International Realty in Redmond, Wash. “You’re probably going to lose them.”

The Pricing Traps

It’s easy for homeowners to stumble into two common traps:

1.  Conflating actual value with sentimental value — how much they assume their home’s worth because they lived there and loved the time they spent there.

2.  Assuming renovations should result in a dollar-for-dollar increase in the selling price — or more.

“Many homeowners think, ‘Of course my home is worth a bazillion dollars,’” says Newgent. If they put in a few thousand dollars worth of new flooring, for example, they might overestimate the upgrade’s impact on the home’s value into the tens of thousands.

Talmadge’s Texas home came with a built-in renovation trap: It was already the nicest home in the area, making it harder to sell. Major additions had inflated the square footage — and the price, according to one appraiser — without accounting for the surrounding neighborhood. That created a disconnect for buyers: Wealthier ones who might be interested in the upgraded home disliked the neighborhood, and less affluent buyers couldn’t afford the asking price.

“Don’t buy the nicest home on the block” is common real estate advice for this reason.

That’s not to say that renovations aren’t worth it. You want to enjoy your home while you’re in it, right? Smart renovations make your home more comfortable and functional but should typically reflect the neighborhood. A REALTOR® can help you understand what certain upgrades can recoup when you sell and which appeal to buyers.

Another culprit for many a mispriced home is online tools, like Zillow’s “Zestimate,” that prescribe an estimated market value based on local data.

The estimate is often wildly inaccurate. A Virginia-area real estate company, McEnearney & Associates, has compared actual sold prices with predicted online estimates for several hundred homes in the area for the past few years and concluded the predictions failed half of the time.

The Right Stats for the Right Price

The best pricing strategy? Consult a real estate agent, who will use something called comps (also known as “comparable sales”) to determine the appropriate listing price. They’re not just looking at your neighbors; they’re seeking out near-identical homes with similar floor plans, square footage, and amenities that sold in the last few months.

Once they’ve assembled a list of similar homes (and the real prices buyers paid), they can make an accurate estimate of what you can expect to receive for your home. If a three-bedroom bungalow with granite countertops and a walk-out basement down the block sold for $359,000, expecting more from your own three-bedroom bungalow with granite countertops and a walk-out basement is a pipe dream.

After crunching the data, they’ll work with you to determine a fair price that’ll entice buyers. The number might be less than you hope and expect, but listing your home correctly — not idealistically — is a sure way to avoid the aches and pains of a long, drawn-out listing that just won’t sell.

Knowing When the Price is Too High

Once your home is on the market, you’ll start accumulating another set of data that will serve as the ultimate price test: how buyers react.

Agent Hjorten says there’s an easy way to tell if you’ve priced too high: “If we have no showings, it’s way too high. Lots of showings and no offer means you’ve marketed well — but it’s overpriced once people get inside.”

Talmadge didn’t struggle with showings. She says a number of people were interested in the home, but not enough at the price. In the end, Talmadge sold her home for $125,000, with a $5,000 seller’s assist, a discount on the cost of the home applied directly to closing costs.

“It all boils down to location, location, location. In [another] neighborhood, our house might well have sold for well over $130,000,” Talmadge says.

When it comes to finding a buyer, pricing your home according to data — and the right data, at that — is crucial to making the sale.

Source: Houselogic.com, Jamie Wiebe
https://www.houselogic.com/sell/how-much-is-my-home-worth/?cid=pm_ps_google_cac

13 BRUTALLY HONEST REASONS YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO SELL YOUR HOUSE ON YOUR OWN

Thinking about selling your house without a real estate agent? It's a choice some people make, mainly to try to save some money. But the number of people who list their home For Sale By Owner is in decline. "Eight percent of home sellers chose to list themselves - a record low of for-sale-by-owner transactions," according to a National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) survey.

So why isn't it a good idea to go it alone? Let us count the ways.

1. Because you're not thinking with your head

No matter how level-headed you think you are, selling your home is emotional. When someone comes in with a lowball offer or offends your decorating style, will you be able to remain professional, or are the cops going to have to get involved because you punched a guy?

2. Because you think your house looks fine as is

And it may, for everyday living. But a "lived-in" house is not going to wow buyers. Beyond the obvious tips of making your house sparkling clean, a Realtor will help you declutter and depersonalize to get it in selling shape.

3. Because you clearly have no sense of smell

If you did, you'd know your house smells like crap. Cat crap, to be exact. Or maybe it's just musty, which could give potential buyers the idea that there are water issues (which there may very well be). A real estate agent would undoubtedly make you address any odor issues, along with a whole host of other staging stuff to make your place look - and smell - good.

4. Because Formica countertops went out in the ‘60s

Actually, were they ever really in? A dated kitchen isn't just going to affect your sales price. It may keep you from getting offers altogether. The rule about kitchens and bathrooms selling homes is still true; even small but impactful changes can help substantially, which Realtors are keenly aware of. Trying to save a buck by listing a home yourself and not making even small changes can hurt you in the end.

5. Because you have a view of the freeway

Think it's gonna be easy to distract from the eyesore down the street or the overwhelming noise in the backyard? Nope. But an agent will give it their all in ways you may not have thought of or be skilled in, using smart pricing and marketing strategies to deflect, downplay, or refocus attention on other, more attractive elements of the home.

6. Because you don't know thousands of people. And you're not connected to hundreds of agents.

That's the difference an agent can make in using their network to market your home far and wide and getting it in front of potential buyers.

7. Because you need to come down $20k from your "dream" sales price

Then come down another $10k. Then you might actually be close to market value. This goes back to that "emotional" process thing. Your home isn't worth the memories you made there, or the work you put in. Market value is market value, and a real estate agent will have a much easier time establishing that and sticking to it.

8. Because what you call charming and eclectic may just be seen by buyers as tiny and outdated.

You may not be able to get real about the reality of your home. But your Realtor will.

9. Because the only offer you got was $30,000 below your asking price

Know how to proceed? What if you play hardball and lose the only bite you've had? What if you agree and always regret the idea that you left money on the table?

10. Because the inspection report showed all kinds of unpleasant stuff, and now the buyer wants a big, fat credit

It's an agent's job to handle the multiple unpleasant details that would make a regular person run toward a quiet space to roll up into the fetal position. The fact that you don't have to do any of the negotiating - not on sales price to begin with, not on whether or not you can include your master bedroom furniture, set of luggage, lawn chairs, and collection of vintage cookbooks in the home sale, and not on who's going to pay to fix the leaky roof and the cracked living room window - is well worth the commission you pay.

11. That overgrown mess you call a front yard

Curb appeal is critical to getting your home sold. A real estate agent will help you focus on the simple steps to get it in good shape. Fail to address this key area and those coming to see your home may just pass on by.

12. You

Yes, you. You could be the No. 1 deterrent to getting your house sold, starting with the house tour. Shadowing potential buyers while they check out the house, pestering them with questions about how they like it, interrupting their agent to add in inconsequential details - all of these things may turn off buyers and send them off to the next home.

Agents know what to emphasize and how to give potential buyers space. Crowding and/or annoying them may be enough to make them walk. After all, if dealing with you during the home tour is a drag, who's going to want to deal with that during the escrow?

13. And the most important reason of all: the money.

"In reality, homes sold by the owner make less money overall," according to the NAR.

By the numbers: "The median selling price for all FSBO homes was $210,000 last year. When the buyer knew the seller in FSBO sales, the number sinks to the median selling price of $151,900," they said. "However, homes that were sold with the assistance of an agent had a median selling price of $249,000 -- nearly $40,000 more for the typical home sale."

Still want to do it on your own?

Source: RealtyTimes, Jaymi Naciri
http://realtytimes.com/consumeradvice/sellersadvice1/item/44489-20160512-13-brutally-honest-reasons-you-can-t-afford-to-sell-your-house-on-your-own

Listing Your Home? How to Avoid Seller's Remorse

In many real estate markets around the country, inventory is low and sellers are in the driver’s seat again.

In some cases, homes are selling for more than asking price. After years of a sluggish buyers’ market, many real estate agents are trying to get would-be sellers to list their homes now.

It seems like a great time to sell. But how can you know for sure if it’s a great time for you to sell?

If you experience buyer’s remorse, you can usually get out of a contract through contingencies or other out clauses. If you start to feel seller’s remorse, you don’t have that luxury. So you must be certain you’re ready to sell before you sign the contract —or, better yet, before you list the property.

To avoid seller’s remorse, and to make the sales process go as smoothly as possible, keep these strategies in mind.

Develop a solid pricing strategy

Agents often encourage their sellers to list their homes competitively, so that the market receives it well. Sometimes sellers see that as the agent pushing for a quick sale. But often, it’s truly the agent looking out for the seller’s best interests.

Whatever the scenario, pricing is the most important discussion a seller can have with an agent. When there’s a disconnect on price, raise it as a red flag from the get-go. If you find yourself resisting your agent’s suggested price, talk through the options or get a second opinion.

You might try starting out with a higher number. This might be against your agent’s better judgment, but it can be worth a shot. If there’s no activity in the first few weeks, you can always reduce the price.

Alternatively, sellers who increase their asking price after the home has gone on the market are often seen as frenetic, lacking a strategy and having a clear disconnect with their agent.

Bottom line: If you haven’t had a serious pricing discussion with your agent or you aren’t sold on your list price, don’t go on the market.

Have a clear post-sale plan

The sellers of an Essex, CT home heard the market there was hot and that they could get the price they had tried but failed to get just six months earlier. They’d already done the appropriate clearing out, painting, and fix-it work, and even had the property inspected. So, for them, going on the market was easy.

However, they didn’t expect to receive three offers, all of them above the asking price, within hours of their first open house. The buyers they chose wanted to close in 30 days.

The problem: The sellers had nowhere to go. They didn’t have a plan. Like many sellers today, they heard the market was healthy again. And after dreaming for years of finally getting what their home is worth, they jumped in while “the getting is good” without thinking it all the way through.

Be ready to negotiate with buyers

Feeling strong and in the driver’s seat, the Essex homeowners decided to wait and see if they could get terms that would suit them better. The sellers’ listing agent negotiated a quick close with a 30-day-free rent-back and another 30 days rent, in which the sellers would pay the new buyer’s PITI (Principal, Interest, Taxes and Insurance). It was a win-win for all.

While this couple in Essex had the luxury of a competitive bidding situation, it may not always be the case. That’s why having a clear plan in place for all conceivable outcomes and a willingness to negotiate can help you get through the sale process successfully.

When in doubt, stay out

Home selling is happening quickly in many parts of the country. While this is great news for the housing market and most homeowners, sellers need to plan for the sale months in advance. Hooking up with a good local agent early on in the process and staying engaged is the best way to approach this new market.

If you have any doubts about your physical or financial situation, hold off on listing. Watch from the sidelines, and only jump in when you’re truly ready. The biggest mistake a seller can make is to go on the market and fail to sell — at a time when everything else is selling.

Source: Zillow Porchlight, Brendon Desimon
http://www.zillow.com/blog/avoiding-sellers-remorse-123175/

6 SUCKY Realities About Selling Your Home, And 8 Ways To Make It Happen More QUICKLY

Selling your house while you live in it sucks. There is no other way to describe it. And if you don’t live alone it sucks exponentially more with every family member, including pets. You may think I am exaggerating… but these words are the awful TRUTH.

The Sucky Truths

1. You need to keep your house pristine. Not only neat and clean and picked up… but PRISTINE. Sparkly. Shiny. With absolutely no evidence that humans live there. No dishes in the kitchen sink, no toothbrush on the side of the sink in the bathroom, not one water drop on your mirrors. You are competing with model homes, you think model homes have water spots on their mirrors? Never.
2. Not only do you need to keep your house pristine, but you need to keep your yard the same way. The lawn must be mowed and green, and you actually have to edge as well. No weeds, no leaves, no spiders in the corner of your patio. It needs to look like a story book… which is not an easy thing to do in this dust bowl we call home. You know those adorable bright red cushions you bought at Target last summer? They show every speck of dust, and you must clap them out every single day. You must keep the story book fantasy alive for your buyers!
3. You must leave when you have showings. Not only must you leave, but your animals must leave too. Every single man on the planet and several women will say they are allergic to cats, so your cat should not be seen. Don’t even get me started on the litter box, get it outside. And Fido, he’s got to go too. Lots of people are legitimately afraid of dogs. Terrified. Irrational fear. Even if they hear the barking of a dog before they enter, they won’t enter. Forget it. If they don’t enter, guess what, they aren’t buying your house.
4. So now you, your cat, dog, and three kids are in your car driving around in circles waiting for the agent to show up and show your house… and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Susie forgot to use the potty, and she is hungry, the cat just peed in your car, and you are missing Dr. Phil… where is the agent??????? Finally, 32 minutes after he said he would be there he shows up, wearing shorts and a t shirt, and takes the buyers in… and 5 minutes later they leave??? What the heck was that? What happened? When your realtor calls for feedback she finds out they only want a single level home, no two stories. Are you kidding? It is listed as a two story, there are several pictures showing clearly it is a two story, you even have a picture of the stairs!!!! So you did all of that for nothing… again.
5. When you send your listing to friends and family everyone will tell you how nice your house is, and why again are you moving? They will make you second guess and question every decision you have ever made, and really, look at that beautiful pool…
6. You will get a ridiculous offer. It will ask for crazy things, like for you to pay all of their closing costs, or for you to leave your brand new Rainbow swing set in the backyard, or sometimes even your pet if they happened to catch a glimpse of the adorable thing before you got him in the car. What are they thinking? You are just selling your HOUSE, not your life!

After hearing about some of the challenges of having your home on the market you might be thinking why on earth would anyone ever do that???? Well, because you want to sell your home. Maybe you want, or need, to relocate. Maybe you want, or need, a bigger house, or a smaller house. Maybe you want to be closer to work, or closer to family…maybe you want a pool, or are done with taking care of a pool. Whatever it is there is a reason sellers put themselves through this.

So what is the solution? How can you make this process easier, as painless as possible, and as fast as possible… while still getting the most money for your house?

Before you go on the market:

1. Stage your home. Put away all of the clutter. Pack up half of your stuff and store it in the garage. Make sure closets aren’t stuffed, rooms don’t feel crowded, and your personal items and photos aren’t making it impossible for a buyer to imagine the home as theirs.
2. Make sure your pictures are phenomenal. Whether that is a professional photographer, or your agent, pictures are what 90% of buyers will use to decide if they want to see your home in person. Shine your best light on your house in your photos, get as many people through as possible. But do not overly edit your photos, that will turn people off, and make them feel cheated when they see the real thing.
3. Price your house reasonably. People will skip your house if it is over priced. Buyers don’t like to haggle with unreasonable sellers, so be reasonable, from the start. Don’t dig your feet in during negotiations. Go for the win/win. If you want way above what other homes around you are selling for, don’t list your home for sale. The chance of finding a buyer is slim, and if you do, chances are they will need a loan… and loans need appraisals. Those are tough enough even pricing at market value, don’t set yourself up for a disaster. And if you real estate agent is letting you choose the price, find another real estate agent. One that will support the list price with comparable sales and with market knowledge… someone that does real estate full time.

While you’re on the market:

1. First of all, do numbers 1-6 of selling sucks when you are on the market. Don’t take anything personally, and if you fail occasionally, don’t beat yourself up.
2. Make the house as available as possible. Real estate agents might not be able to give you 24 hours notice, sometimes buyers don’t give them the proper head’s up of what they want to see. Occasionally they will forget to make the appointment and will call from the driveway. If you can, let them in. They might not make it back.
3. Crank your air down if it is hot outside. Make sure it feels good, smells good, and is as pleasant as possible for the buyers while they are in your home.

After you’ve accepted an offer:

1. Expect to make repairs to your house. Lots of issues the buyer will bring to you will be warranted items, make sure you understand this before you accept an offer.
2. Pack up, move out, and leave a clean home for the new owners…by the closing day. Leave your extra keys, garage remotes, mailbox location and keys, and any good to know info for them. Move on to your next home knowing you just completed an awesome win/win sale!

Source: Lighter Side of Real Estate

http://lightersideofrealestate.com/real-estate-life/6-sucky-realities-selling-home-8-ways-make-happen-quickly

Surefire Tactics to Getting More Money for Your Home

All home sellers hope their place will fetch a big, fat price. And while you can’t control everything that determines a house’s market rate—like, say, the state of the stock market or the quality of your local school district—there are plenty of things within your power that can nudge that number higher. A lot higher, in fact.

Granted, manipulating your home’s selling price will take some work, and usually some money. But time and again, these proven strategies make a big difference in final sales prices. Try a few, then prepare to do a victory dance on the big day you get your offer(s).

Tactic 1: Bite the bullet and make smart upgrades

Yes, overall renovations to your home will nudge up the price, although not always as much as you might hope: According to Remodeling magazine’s 2016 Cost vs. Value Report, you’ll get back an average of 64% on whatever upgrades you paid for. But that ROI varies widely based on what type of improvement you do. The most profitable upgrade is—drum roll—insulating your attic. It may not be all that sexy, but you’ll recoup 116.9% of your costs. It’s the only home reno in the report that redeems more money than you spend!

Tactic 2: Boost your curb appeal

You Realtor® has probably already told you: One surefire way to jack up your sale price is to knock ’em dead before they even reach your front door. So spend some time and do it for real. Improving your home’s curb appeal can increase your sale price by up to 17%, a Texas Tech University study found. Basic landscaping such as trimming hedges, pulling weeds, and pruning trees is a must.

You can add pops of color by planting flowers in the front yard and placing potted plants on each side of the front door, says Kimberly Sands, a broker at Coldwell Banker Advantage in Apex, NC. Consider installing white panel lighting along railings, fences, or doorsteps to make your home’s exterior visually appealing for evening showings. Other low-cost projects to improve your home’s appearance include putting a fresh coat of paint on the front door, updating the house numbers, and adding porch furniture.

Tactic 3: Create the illusion of more space

It goes without saying that a higher square footage fetches a higher sum, but you can’t do anything about that, right? Not so fast: Your home’s actual specs don’t matter as much as how spacious rooms look when you’re standing in them. So be sure to create an open, inviting space. That entails removing large pieces of furniture such as the oversize coffee table (it might look nice, but it could be blocking foot traffic).

Not enough room in the garage to stow everything? Look into renting a storage unit, says Jennifer Baxter, associate broker at Coldwell Banker RMR in Suwanee, GA. If your home has beautiful hardwood floors, show them off by removing large rugs, and clear off your kitchen’s counter space by putting away blenders, coffee makers, toaster ovens, and other small appliances, she advises.

Buyers are particularly attuned to closet space, so move off-season clothes into storage. “You want to give the illusion that your closet is so large that you can’t fill it,” she says.

Tactic 4: Hire a professional home stager

Have “eclectic” design tastes? Your personal aesthetic might put off some buyers, so move all your knickknacks into storage and hire a home stager. It’s true that these professionals—who tweak your space to make it more appealing to buyers—aren’t cheap, but they can be well worth it.

On average, staged homes sell for a whopping 20% more money than nonstaged ones. Staging may be particularly important if you’re in the process of moving, and some rooms are vacant. Make sure your living room and kitchen are fully furnished, since they’re the most important rooms to buyers, according to the National Association of Realtors®’ 2015 Profile of Home Staging survey.

Tactic 5: Pick a neutral color palette

Maybe you painted your daughter’s room pink, or thought lime green was perfect for the master bedroom. (We all make mistakes!) However, boldly colored walls can turn off buyers, says Katie Wethman, a Washington, DC–based Realtor and founder of the Wethman Group. So consider hiring a professional to repaint the house throughout in a neutral color such as off-white or beige. Or if you have the time, you can cut costs by painting it yourself.

Source: Realtor.com, Daniel Bortz
http://www.realtor.com/advice/sell/ways-to-boost-home-price/?iid=rdc_news_hp_carousel_theLatest

VIDEO - 5 Reasons Your Home Isn't Selling

5 Reasons Your Home Isn't Selling

What type of homes are selling in this market?

Realtors Reveal: ‘The Hardest Home I Ever Had to Sell’

You hear how hot the market is, and how there aren’t enough homes for sale. So selling your house should be a snap, right? Right?

Well, not always. Even in the fastest-moving, most in-demand areas, certain homes—for whatever reason—just sit … and sit … and sit on the market. As a seller, this may lead you to contemplate harm to yourself, your pet canary, your life-size Jeb Bush doll (hey, who are we to judge?). But don’t do it! There’s always hope.

As inspiration, check out these true-life tales from real estate agents on the hardest home they ever had to sell. Their hard-won lessons may benefit sellers struggling to unload their own digs.

Smells like sabotage

“The most difficult home for me to sell was a five-bedroom in Diamond Bar, CA. The seller had her daughter and the daughter’s children living with her. No matter how much notice I gave them to leave before a showing, they were always there—frequently walking around in their underwear, the smell of weed wafting through the air, even ‘Do Not Enter’ signs on certain rooms. Eventually, my listing expired. There was no shortage of other agents wanting to show the property, so they listed with someone else, but big surprise: It still didn’t sell. Six months later, I received a call from the seller asking me to relist. I told her only if the family agreed to follow my directives. This time around, they cooperated, and in 2015—two years after my initial listing—the property sold.” – Julie Marie McDonough, real estate broker and author of “How to Make your Credit Score Soar”

Lesson learned: Listen up, home sellers—if your agent offers some advice, take it. They’ve sold hundreds of homes, so they know what works. So leave the house during showings, already. And put on some damn clothes.

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Bring in the drones

“A $12.9 million Fifth Avenue trophy property had been on the market for three years with several different brokers. Everyone said this property was overpriced and would never sell. My co-worker and I weren’t daunted. We took a risk and brought a drone into Central Park—which is technically illegal—and shot some stunning visuals across the reservoir for a promo video for the apartment, even with cops standing nearby. Drones open up the world in visual marketing, and this gave us the ability to shoot and record some grand and spectacular footage from high up in the air. We had so many people taking photos of us and the drone. Lots of attention. But it worked! We got interest in the place, and it sold soon thereafter. The sellers thought it was a straight-up miracle!” – Phillia Kim Downs, Phillia & Claire

Lesson learned: Use the latest tech advancements to shed fresh light on your home. This new perspective not only grabs new eyeballs but could also inspire someone to make an offer.

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Doughnuts for dollars

“In Portland, OR, Voodoo Doughnuts has a cultlike status—and one of my agents had a listing for a home that was owned by one of the founders. After being on the market for years, the sellers were getting frustrated, so we decided to throw in an offer for free donuts for life to whoever bought it. Now, someone is getting all the glazed, cake, and sprinkles they want: The couple who bought the home had actually gotten married at a Voodoo Doughnuts and had doughnut tattoos!” – Jenelle Isaacson, owner, Living Room Realty

Lesson learned:  Doughnuts rule. Also, sometimes the quirkiest offer or (sweetest) enticement will help you stand out from the pack.

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Eminem infamy

“We had a property in West Bloomfield, MI, that was clouded by several vacant properties throughout the subdivision. It wasn’t moving at all. So we decided to hold an auction—and the centerpiece of our marketing plan was using the owner’s notoriety as the award-winning producer for Eminem‘s hit song ‘Lose Yourself’ to drive up the price. In the end, we sold the property for $924,000—the highest comparable sales price in the last five years.” – Sara Rose Bytnar, Beth Rose Real Estate & Auctions

Lesson learned: Celebrity connections, even tangential ones, can grab added attention that can get a home sold.

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Trailers and trash

“As a newer Realtor®, I took on what ended up to be a nightmare in El Sereno, CA. The sellers—a brother and sister who weren’t speaking to each other—were unloading a lot with a burned-out house that had become a dumping ground littered with cinder blocks, old tires, five motorcycles, and countless beer and wine bottles. They wanted to sell it as is, so we tried. We were in and out of escrow three times where investors would offer, than cancel as soon as they saw the lot. But we stuck with it. After eight months—and nearly giving up—we finally sold it to buyers who were young and excited to turn it around. And for a surprisingly large sum!” – Stephanie Miller, associate partner, Partners Trust

Lesson learned: No matter how long the sales process drags on, take heart: One person’s trashed property is another person’s treasure.


Source: Realtor.com, Kimberly Neumann
http://www.realtor.com/advice/sell/hardest-home-to-sell/?iid=rdc_news_hp_carousel_theLatest

5 Tax Benefits of Owning a Second Home

There are tons of benefits that come with owning a second home: novelty and adventure, a place to escape and unwind, an opportunity to create memories that last a lifetime, a valuable tool to make vacation-craving friends like you a whole lot (for better or for worse).

But there’s another benefit that’s often overlooked: the tax breaks.

You already know that owning a home usually offers some tax deductions. But what if you own two? Or three? What if you’re a regular Donald Trump (back in his real estate, meat magnate heyday, of course)?

Since we know you won’t mind a little extra cash to spend while soaking in your surroundings during your next getaway, we thought we’d tell you how to reap the fruits of your second-home purchase.

1. Mortgage interest—yes, again

When it comes to owning a second home, the interest on your mortgage is deductible. The same rules that come with writing off mortgage interest for your first home apply to your second.

In fact, you can write off as much as 100% of the interest you pay on up to $1 million of debt, which includes total debt taken on to pay for both homes, as well as money spent on improving the properties. (That’s not up to $1 million for each property—just up to $1 million in total.)

2. Home improvements

Is your second home a fixer-upper? If you want to spend the off-season making improvements to your hideaway, you can deduct the interest on a home equity loan or line of credit.

But there are a couple of exceptions.

For starters, there will be a limit on the amount you can deduct if the home equity loan on your main or second home is more than $50,000 if filing single or $100,000 if married or filing jointly.

Second, the amount you can deduct has a limit if the mortgage is more than the fair market value of the home, says Gil Charney, director of The Tax Institute at H&R Block.

For example, let’s say a taxpayer has a mortgage of $220,000 and takes out a home equity loan of $65,000. The property’s fair market value is $275,000. Since the difference between the fair market value and the mortgage is $55,000, then $55,000 of the home equity loan can be deducted, not the full $65,000.

3. Property taxes

You can also deduct your second home’s property taxes, which are based on the assessed value of the home. That’s good news. Even better news? Unlike the mortgage interest tax deduction, there’s no dollar limit on the amount of real estate taxes that can be deducted on any number of homes owned by the taxpayer.

But beware: Taxpayers who can afford two homes are likely to land in a higher tax bracket—which means slimmer pickings for tax savings. For example, in 2016, a married couple whose gross income exceeds $311,300 would have limits on the types of itemized deductions they could take.

4. Renting out your home

If you rent out your second home for 14 days or less over the course of a year, that rental income is tax-free—and there’s no limit to what you can charge per day or week. Score!

But if you’re hoping to put your secondary digs on Airbnb or another rental site for more than 14 days during the year, be prepared to do some heavy math come tax time.

You’ll want to figure out the number of days you rent your home and divide that by the total number of days your home was used—whether it was you or a renter staying there. (The total number of days that the home was vacant doesn’t fall into this equation.)

For instance, let’s say you rented out your vacation home for 30 days within a year, and vacationed in your home for 90 days.

We’ll divide 30 (the days you rented it out) by 120 (the total number of days the home was used). The result: 25% of your rental-related expenses—which could range from utilities to the cost of a property manager—can be deducted. Now, if your home is losing value, that same percentage (in this example, 25%) of depreciation costs can also be deducted.

Here’s the caveat, Charney explains: Depreciation costs can be deducted only if there is rental income remaining after taking into account other deductions, such as mortgage interest, property taxes, and direct expenses tied to renting your home—like agent fees or advertising.

5. When it’s time to sell

Maybe you bought a far-off hideaway that you’re lucky to visit a couple of times a year. Or perhaps your vacation home is just a quick drive away, and you spend every possible moment there.

If it’s the latter—and you don’t already know which of your homes is your primary residence and which is the second home—now’s the time to figure it out. Distinguishing between the two can have big tax implications when it comes time to sell.

That’s because a capital gain of up to $250,000 (or $500,000 for taxpayers who are married/joint filers) on the sale of the principal residence may be excluded from taxable income.

Your principal—or primary—residence is the home you used most during the five years prior to the sale. But other factors—such as your job’s location, voter registration address, and banking location—could also come into play. Among other requirements, you must own and use that principal residence for at least two of the five years before the home is sold.

We know—that’s a lot of heavy stuff to take in. But you knew your second home would pay off in more ways than one, right? Now, hurry up and file your tax return—so you can escape to your happy place and forget about burdensome things. Like taxes.

Source: Realtor.com, Renee Morad
http://www.realtor.com/advice/finance/second-home-tax-benefits/?iid=rdc_news_hp_carousel_theLatest